Schumer: Start immigration reform after Obama leaves

To combat distrust of President Obama among the GOP caucus, Sen. Chuck Schumer, New York Democrat, suggested passing immigration reform now, but delaying its implementation until Mr. Obama is no longer in office.

“The number one reason they are saying they don’t want to vote for it is they believe Barack Obama will only enforce the parts of the law he likes – you know, legalization, path to citizenship — but not the enforcement, stopping illegal immigrants from crossing the border. So I said, look, if you feel that way, enact the bill now and then don’t have it take effect till 2017,” he said Thursday on MSNBC. “It received a lot of support, even from some Republicans, who feel that this would take the number one objection away.”

He said reforming immigration would “get our country moving again” and actually increase GDP by 3½ percent, according to the Congressional Budget Office. These are the reasons Democrats are pursuing immigration reform as one of their top priorities in 2014 — not for political ammunition in the mid-term elections.

“If Democrats wanted political advantage, we’d pass a bill that was way to the left and beat up our Republican colleagues,” he said. “In the Senate, as you know, with John McCain and Lindsey Graham and many others — Marco Rubio — we forged a coalition.”